It's practice day in Williamsport as the Little League World Series nears

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT -- It was a practice day for all 16 teams as they prepare for the opening of the 67th Little League World Series on Thursday.

Teams hit the batting cages and practice fields Tuesday, the last full day they could before the games begin.

Wednesday they will leave the complex early for a picnic at the Pennsylvania College of Technology and they then will ride in the Grand Slam Parade in Williamsport that begins at 6.

Series opening ceremonies are at 11 a.m. Thursday with the first game, between Panama and Puerto Rico at 1 p.m. in Volunteer Stadium. Three more games are scheduled Thursday.

The Mid-Atlantic champions from Newark, Del., as one of those busy at the batting cages. While manager John Ludman was pitching in the cages, coach Joe Popitti was working with players on bunting. Newark represents the region that includes Pennsylvania.

Ludman hopes three is a charm. This is the third consecutive year Newark has won the Delaware state title. They had lost the last two years in the regional tournament.

“This is unbelievable for us,”’ Ludman said. “We kept creeping up on it - semifinals, finals and we finally got here. We’re thrilled to death.”

They beat Lionville from Chester County for the Mid-Atlantic title to become only the second Delaware team to play in the series.

Ludman is a first-time manager but said he got to experience the regional tournament in Bristol, Conn., because a son was on that team.

Another son, Eric, 12, plays first base and catches on this team. Like his dad, he said, “It’s a dream come true.” Since he started playing Little League he said he would watch the series on television, hoping someday to be here.

“Nobody believed in our team,” he said. “Nobody thought we would win districts."

Newark is a pitching and defense type of team, he said. “We need to be clean in the field and depend on good pitchers who throw a lot of strikes,” Ludman said.

“We like to manufacture runs,” he said.” We have a couple of guys who can take the ball out of the park but we like to manufacture our runs.”

As all teams discover, there are distractions at the series, such as getting their pictures taken for credentials and being interviewed by ESPN.

“We’ve enjoyed the distractions, but it makes it challenging because we’re used to having a very structured practice schedule,” he said. “We’re having a great time and we’re trying to balance the fun aspects and have time to play baseball.”

Newark’s first game is against Urbandale, Iowa, at 8 p.m. Friday.

The Texans from Corpus Christi are another team no one expected to make to the series, according to manager Randy Ramirez.

They are calling us the Cinderella team,” he said. “We came out of nowhere. We’ve been the underdogs in every tournament.”

He cited the West Texas tournament as an example where he said they were knocked into the loser’s bracket early but came back to win it by defeating Midland twice to get to the Southwest regional tournament.

The Texans may have considered themselves underdogs in the regional tournament, but they won all six games, outscoring their opponents 41-12. They shut out New Mexico, 6-0 to win he trip to the series.

Getting to South Williamsport was an adventure in itself because their flight from Dallas to Philadelphia was canceled, Ramirez said. The team spent more than five hours in the Dallas airport without eating until they were placed on a plane to New York City, he said.

“We had to have a lot of patience,” the self-employed roofer said. “We made the best of a bad situation.”

Corpus Christi faces Sammamish, Wash., in its first game at 3 p.m. Thursday.